Andy Murray is excited for the “big challenge” of facing world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in a second-round clash after he beat Federico Delbonis at the Miami Open.
The 34-year-old Brit lifted his game considerably after an edgy opening set tie-break to come through the encounter 7-6(4) 6-1 and secure his progress at Hard Rock Stadium.
The two-time Miami Open champion was fired up at the end of the match as he clinched the victory against the Argentine on a very slow court in Miami.
Murray could not hide his excitement at the prospect of testing his game and where it currently stands against world No. 2 Medvedev in the second round.
“Yeah, I mean, I hope so,” Murray said when asked if he had a chance. “You know, obviously, you know, a tough match.
“He has played extremely well on the hard courts in the last few seasons. You know, he deserves to be right up there at the top of the game. So, yeah, a big challenge for me, a great test.
“You know, I’ve got a big training block after this tournament, and you know, it will be a really good test for where my game is at and the things I need to work on as well against him. So, looking forward to that.”
On coming through his opening test against Delbonis, Murray was satisfied with how he played at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Well, I think both of us served very well in the first set,” he said. “I managed to catch a really good return at five-four in the tie-break, a really deep return and managed to get that point.
“He then double faulted on the set point, and yeah, that was the key to the match right there. You know, I’d like to think if I had lost the first set, you know, I still would have been right in the match.
“But for me, I sat down after that, got the break straight away and the beginning of the second and went on from there.”
Medvedev suffered a shock three-set defeat to Gael Monfils in the third round at Indian Wells in what was his first tournament since replacing Novak Djokovic at the top of the rankings.
But the Australian Open runner-up can retake top spot with a run to the semi-finals in Miami. Djokovic is not playing as he is not vaccinated, so is unable to travel to the United States.
